construction study CYSTB 75 (27.5) (€2) The Dome experience The Millennium Dome, which when built will be one of the world’s largest enclosures, is the product of essentially simple ideas writ large. We follow it through from design to its current state of construction BY BARRIE EVANS, PHOTOGRAPHS/ILLUSTRATIONS BY QA PHOTOS, STUBBS RICH, CHORLEY HANDFORD/HAYES DAVIDSON 27 Noverber 199 the architec? journal 29CONSTRUCTION STUDY By early 1996 the design proposals for a Milllennium Experience at Greenwich entailed @ range of four-storey pavilions grouped around a central arena. In the summer, Mike Davies of Richard Rogers Partnership in co-operation with Gary Withers of Imagination proposed concept designs for a huge mast-supported dome covering all the exhibits ‘There were several advantages to this suggestion. It relieves some immediate time stresses ~ exhibits can be agreed but not built until later. The dome will act asa focus and identity for the Millenium Experience its roof will be white, its masts "Van Gogh cornfield yellow; a feat of today’s technology ‘that hardly touches the ground’ It isan appropriately scaled structure for the open, peninsular site. Visitors moving between pavilions will also be protected from the weather during the year-long show. And exhibition structures, being indoors, can be less substantial and thus cheaper. A big dome is the cheapest. large-scale ruevanon/secToN Right: Interior view showing tle-down ‘ables from mast bases, which are on som-high ‘quadrapods. Fr right: Instaling the ‘extensive gid of ples ‘that wil suppor service cores and the ‘exhibit structures, PLAN WW OF CABLES WH Gio SETTAG UTMILLENNIUM DOME Eee 1996 ‘August —base design DDecember- tender documents for steelwork 1997 Janwaty ~ planning permission February ~fabic tender Issued; construction manager appointed June-October- pling Iuly-October- other dome foundation work ‘October - masts raised November-February 98 raising cable nets 1998 March-August- roof fabric installation ‘October phased handover of dome begins Top: note ring beam ‘and beyond that \ocation ofthe anchor E locks. The white structure isa vent of ‘the Blackwall tunnel 27 November 1987 the architects journal] 31‘CONSTRUCTION STUDY No Struct currently 0 * for £40 million, around £500/tm, the bracket of retail park sh ri The initial ¢ of masts. The d rings of masts b 400m diameter. The final form m-diameter 4 1g of 12 masts. The mas dome with on further from the centre and were Ic made taller, providing a larger 5 ene; the span is 200m b the ap Cables at the dome surface are @ radial and tial cable at each 72 pair ‘inated point would it.The grid is supp the grid n on workharden and break ed at 25m interval both by hangers from the ‘ometimes by tie-down from the mast bases which lift for Standing the 90m-long masts on 10m-high quadrapods lifts their tied circulation heigh Another ofthe Beyond this central ring As fabric panels span isshall likely to occu These quadrapods also symbolic ion route ss defining radial opments ¥ a central cable node with a 30m- atthe centreof the roof. support for a central, ha slightly pitch roof incorporating 1g rooflights and providing viding the ponding mos fan al cable truss w the fattest pa nding is still tneeen radial hose nearest the top where the slop. west als smallest span and nave th so will sag less, reducing pondin il be stre ween the cables, keeping them relatively flat, Cutting patterns will also encour the dome shape tensioning the radial cables. loaded to 400kN, tw nsion. (Even $0 tl fabric panel: nd stiff by These ar. thirds of their peak dome will move up and down at its ape wind.) To avoid the risk of cable ring due 3,4 and ams actos, they are © be wishbo: interconnected. by diagonal fone straight and circumfere oof tial cables beneath elevation). Circumf the fabric connect rings 4 and 5 mn cables at ay from # fabrie surfaceMILLENNIUM DOME Lefts prefabricated on dome aesthetic Below: the ground, the central 95 tonnes of mast meet cable ring (ing :)'s_asom-high quadrapod, then raised. Above: manipulated by crane fastening a mast and guy opes. Bottom: backstay'o an anchor twocranes workin block conection concerto designis partofthe raise amast ELEVATION sHoMG MAST ERECTION 27 November 199 the architec journal 33CONSTRUCTION STUDY ‘Assembling the central cable ing on the ground At the dome perimeter is a sculpted catenary edge cable. This collects the 72 radial cables so that tying down can be reduced to 24 anchor blocks, limiting impediments to circulation immediately outside the dome. For the fabric, only two alternatives are practicable today, PVC-coated polyester and teflon (PTRE)-coated glass fibre. These two fabrics have some significantly different properties For PVC-polyester: © 2 life expectancy of around 12 years, partly due to UV degradation, PVC-plus- additives provide UV and fire protection to the polyester fre © greater translucency © better colour rendering © vulnerability to staining, with cleaning difficult © some vulnerability to fungal growth, ‘though recent additives have lessened this, For teflon-glass: © twice the price of PVC © a longer life expectancy. An earlier use of teflon-glass was in 1972 and that roof is still in good condition. Glass and teflon are resistant to UV. The teflon encapsulates the lass, protecting it from water damage and abrasion © ‘itis stiffer and harder to work on site (the dome fabric is 0.8mm thick) © around half the light transtucency of PVC (here 6-8 per cent) © a brovener tinge to colour rendering © largely self-cleaning, While the dome can be seen mainly asa shelter, there are other normal building design issues: © environment and services condensation and consequential. indoor rain ate a risk so a two-layer fabric will provide insulation. From the interior, the tensioning and pattern cutting ofthe lining fabric will have the look of the stretched skin, draping no more than Im (t0 20m radius). Six plant areas inside the dome periphery will feed services to the exhibit positions through floor trenches. ‘These areas are also the locations for restaurants and Ws, Some ventilation air will be fed ‘mechanically to central circulation areas since these are far from the vents and doors that provide fresh-air inlets on the perimeter, Air outlet isat roof level, via axial fans mounted in the masts at fabric level, and by opening the 500m? of central rooflights. These openings are supple ‘mented by fans for when it rains © fire ~ fire engineering shows that neither sprinklers nor passive protection of the steelwork are required in the main structure, ‘though both will be used in the internal structures. Smoke is managed by the ventilation system. With 30,000 people in the dome the overall fire issues are as much like dealing with a smal village a8 with single building © acoustics & vibration ~ the dome should rot focus sound internally. Minor wind noise is possible on the cables, Such structures are generally aerodynamically streamlined and wind doesnot tend to excite vibrations in them, The dome has been wind tunnel-tested © durability and maintenance ~ as noted, the fabric is long-life. Individual damaged panels could be replaced. Daniel Ptacek of Birdair suggests such fabrics need cleaning with mild detergent every three to five years, Steelwork lasts as long as it is maintained, The galvanised cables could be painted after say 40 years. The galvanising specification is higher for cables above the fabric © ‘lexibility ~ with a grid of foundations and potential service delivery points, and only 12-masts, theresa lot of interior layout flexibility In principle, then, the dome isa relatively simple design. And ifit wasn't so bigit would be easier t0 build. A concrete slab, a dozen ‘masts supporting a cable net, a fabric covering clipped to the cables, And a relatively low density of joints. What could be easier? Raising the roof Originally a raft or pad foundations were planned actoss the dome, But 8-10m of fil and silty day subsoil, with potential settlements of around 300mm, was found. So a grid of mostly in-situ piles has been installed for layout flexibility, some 8000 in 13 weeks, using up to 18 piling rigs. The remaining groundworks contract for pile caps and building bases, ring beam, anchor blocks, etc, started on 14 July and was completed on 10 October in time for ‘mast erection to start on 13 October. Other site groundworks continue into next year. As the site was formerly a gas works, and thus polluted by coal gasification waste upto 4m deep, a gas-tight membrane has been installed beneath the building, Also under the dome is the southbound carriageway of the Blackwall tunnel and its ventilation shaft which rises within the dome floor, It will be encircled by a wall and connected to the atmosphere through a Sm diameter hole in the fabric 100. ‘The steelwork package for fabrication and erection of the dome was won by Watson. Detailed design of the masts was simplified to a verendeel grid (no cross bracing) and welded joints rather than bolted ~ cutting steel does not have to be so precise. Components for the quadrapods and 15m lengths of masts were prefabricated and coated in the factory, with final welding ‘onsite. The big fans were also fitted into the ‘masts on site Two cranes are used to raise each mast. One ofthe biggest in Europe arrived from the continenton more than 24 lorries, Each mast hhas two permanent backstay cables plus to temporary forestays to hold it until later installation of the cable net. The 12 masts went up in the last two weeks of October ‘There are masthead winches to lift the cables, plus access cradles to lift. people and ‘equipment. Abseilers are also being used to ‘make some of the cable attachments to masts, in the air. When the cable net has been lifted, node connections will mainly be made from